ABSTRACT
Bones make up the skeleton and play an important role in support and protection of the body and organs. Disease and extreme loading conditions may compromise the integrity of bones and lead to altered mechanical properties and fractures. This chapter discusses finite element (FE) analysis, and provides an alternative to estimate mechanical properties of bone in vivo. 3D modalities such as computed tomography (CT) and quantitative CT (QCT) provide the ability to perform 3D measurements of bone mineral density (BMD) and bone architecture, which can significantly improve the prediction of bone strength from imaging data. Peripheral quantitative CT (pQCT) allows for studying the density of the trabecular and cortical compartments of bones separately. Micro-Computed Tomography (µCT) systems function on the same principle as a classical CT, but with a micro-focused x-ray source and extremely precise motion control of the system and source. Newly developed in vivo techniques based on CT (HR-pQCT) now allow for the analysis of bone structure.
